LHR Exhibitions 1 to 15

I started LHR Exhibitions back in October 2013 and curated 15 shows up until November 2015, when I passed her on to a new group of organisers.

Article taken from the People of Print website:
Creative platform LHR Exhibitions was founded by Hackney based illustrator and designer Mr Gresty in 2013. The name LHR comes from the three venues based in Hackney and Islington: The Lauriston, The Hanbury and The Regent where each of the exhibitions have been in residence. Each venue is a bar, which allows the exhibitions to stay up on display, it also means that the launch party can last longer, anyone can turn up and it’s free of charge! The latest exhibition The Things I Think About, When I Think About Thinking is LHR’s 15th and final exhibition.

Working in the design world lends itself to meeting an array of talented creatives, Gresty wanted to get his ‘own work seen and help others get noticed too’. Unlike other exhibitions where galleries take a large commission (40%-50%) he told us that he founded LHR because he ‘wanted the artists to be able to walk away with 100% of the cash from anything sold’.

The latest and final brief for the artists was based upon Gresty’s own experiences of selling his work – and a great way to end. He told us:‘The pieces of work that I have created and shown, that I haven’t been 100% happy with have sold well and those pieces of work that I am most happy with haven’t sold as well. I asked the artist this time to put forward work that they are really happy with and not because they are crowd pleasers.’ The venues create a great atmosphere, for exhibitions, launch parties, live music, cinema club and parties. With gallery space, film viewing facilities, truly stone-baked pizzas and drinks.

EXHIBITION HISTORY.Ben Rix (solo show)
04.10.2013 at The Lauriston

Whisper
11.10.2013 at The Hanbury Arms
These illustrations were created for an exhibition called ‘Whisper’. The exhibition started with a line on text, which was to be the title of my piece, I then passed it on to the next artist, like “Chinese” whispers. They used their interpretation for their piece and so on until I receive the 30th reincarnation of the text which became the title of my second piece.

Here is the full list.
1. Entering the unknown with my eyes half opened – Eye No. 1
2. Mentoring the young gnome with my eyes half open
3. Men touring the unknown white of their skies
4. Men pouring the unknown light of the skies
5. Remembering the un-gnome like disguise
6. Fun gnome bike disguise
7. Funk gnome by discos
8. Dunk phone in thy Bisto
9. Drunk pony in the piste
10. Funk Tony and the fish
11. Factory of the fish
12. Fake tree and the fish
13. Fake limb for a fish
14. Cycling with a fish
15. Cycling With a wish
16. So Clean with a wish
17. Soaking with a witch
18. Soul king with a wish
19. The sole king with a wish
20. The soul ping with a wish
21. The whole thing will exist
22. The whole thought will excite
23. The wall will fall tonight
24. A still small light will fall (to)night
25. A still small call might fill the night
26. Stillness might fill the night
27. Illness might kill the night
28. Ill minds kill in the night
29. I find thrill in the night
30. I found thrills in my sights – Eye No. 30

Spectrum
22.11.2013 at The Lauriston
The gamut of art. 16 artists received a unique colour swatch, each. They then did their thing, whatever felt right, making sure their colour was very prominent. The exhibition was displayed in the order of the spectrum.

A is For..?
29.11.2013 at The Hanbury Arms
An exhibition from A to Z, 26 artists received one letter of the alphabet. They then chose a word that starts with their letter. Then created one piece in their own unique way, based on that word.

Double Vision
07.03.2014 at The Lauriston
Some public houses are centuries old and many of their early customers were unable to read, but luckily they could recognise pictorial signs. ‘Double-Vision’ is an exhibition of bold images that combine two things, recognisable enough for any thirsty and illiterate onlooker to identify.

Eccentric
28.03.2014 at The Regent
A portrait exhibition of eccentric characters. Seven seconds is generally the length of time it takes a person to judge another, without being aware of it. This collection celebrates those people that broke the mold.

ZOO
11.07.2014 at The Hanbury Arms

This is England
22.08.2014 at The Lauriston
If a person called you European you’d probably correct them with the country you call home. I feel the same about being called British, why don’t people say English anymore? People from Scotland certainly say that they are Scottish. An exhibition of what makes England, English?

Rhyming Slang
24.10.14 at The Lauriston
An exhibition of 15 artists’ visual interpretation of cockney rhyming slang. From the East End of London, the construction of the slang involves replacing a common word with a rhyming phrase. Then you only say the secondary word, for example: apples & pears (stairs) becomes Apples!

Idols + Icons
27.02.2015 at The Hanbury Arms
Possibly my most open brief yet, create a piece to show a person idol or icon that you admire.

2 Colour
27.04.2015 at The Regent

Let’s Tessellate
29.05.2015 at The Lauriston
A regular tessellation is highly symmetric edge-to-edge tiling, made up of regular polygons, all of the same shape. But rules are made to be broken!

Architecture
24.07.2015 at The Hanbury Arms

Love Me / Love Me Not
11.09.2015 at The Lauriston
My illustration is based on Stefania Ferrario and her ‘Love Your Curves’ images which was shared and recreated over social media.

The Things I Think About, When I Think About Thinking
06.11.2015 at The Hanbury Arms
The brief to the artists was as open as ever, a real chance for the them to do their own thing in their unique way.